History 103-47160 World History to 1500 Tues-Thu, 8-9:25 Rm. 30-12 Paul Rittman, Instructor Email: paul.rittman@vvc.edu Website: paulrittman.com/history paulrittman.com/youtube Course Description: Course will focus on the beginnings of civilization some five to seven thousand years ago in Mesopotamia, Africa, Asia, the Americas, Classical Civilizations and the Axis Age with an understanding of the world in 1500. Social, cultural, geographical, political and economic history of the various world civilizations will be stressed. The course is designed to challenge erroneous assumptions about world history and contemporary realities. Textbook: World Civilizations: their History and their Culture. Philip Lee Ralph. 9th edition, Volume 1. Norton. Optional. Availability: I will be available to talk to students before and after the class meets. If you have a question that you would like feedback on during the week, feel free to email me at the above email address. When you email me, please let me know your class number, 103. This way I can know which file to open up to look up any information you are requesting. If you want your email responded to, please make sure that you are requesting information that isn t already in the syllabus, and are including the class information. If you would like to be included whenever I email something to the class, be sure to maintain a current email with our college s online registration system. Withdrawal Policy: February 17 is the last day to drop this class without receiving a W grade. Excessive absences (at any time in the semester) will result in the student being dropped. If you are going to be absent from class for more than two classes in a row, please email me.
Student Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of the course the student can: 1. Define the reasons for the rise, maturation, decline and contributions of the great ancient civilizations of the world 4000BCE-1000BCE. 2. Categorize the rise and decline of classical world civilizations in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe in the period 1000BCE to 500CE. 3. Analyze and evaluate the period 500CE to 1500CE in terms of state development and the beginnings of the first global system of trade. 2 Grading: Final grades will be allotted according to the following percentage scale: A 90% B 80% C 70% D 60% F below 60% The different types of assignments are given below, with the percentage points assigned to each category. All assignments will be given a score, and then factored in according to the following ratios, to determine the final semester grade. Tests 40% (20% each for the midterm and final) Essays 40% (20% each for the first essay and second essay) Participation 15% Essay outline 5% Tests The tests will call for short- and long-answer responses. Long-answer responses will be worth 80% of the test grade; short-answer questions will be worth 20% of the test grade. The final will cover only the material since the midterm. The tests will cover material primarily from lectures and class handouts. On the exams, I will not be grading your spelling, punctuation, or paragraph or essay structure, so much as the ideas you are expressing (obviously your spelling and writing has to be clear enough to be understood by me I don t give credit for what I cannot understand). On the exams, if you answer more than the requested number of questions, be sure to cross out the ones you don t want me to grade; if that isn t indicated, I will determine which responses are read and scored. When writing out the exam questions, write out the short answer responses and underline them; for the long responses, simply give the number of the question and circle it. This will be made clear in the instructions for the exam. Any student that correctly does this for ALL short and long responses will be given one additional (percentage) point for that exam.
3 No electronic media are allowed at all during tests; all books and papers will need to be placed below the desk. If a student is caught looking at printed materials, or on another student's exam, their test will be given an automatic zero, regardless of whether they choose to continue taking that test or not. Once I pass out the midterm or final, students must remain in the room to take it. If or when they leave (to answer a cell phone, go to the bathroom, or for any other reason) the test is considered finished and must be turned in to the teacher. Such students will not be allowed to make up the exam at a later point. If a student feels that a medical (or other) condition might require a student to use the restroom during an exam, they can choose to do the midterm makeup but once the exam has been given, they have to finish it (they can t look at the test and then decide to do the midterm makeup). Blue Books You need to bring Blue Books to class for both the midterm and final (large, 8.5 x 11 inch size recommended some students fill up more than one of the small Blue Books). When you come to class the day of the exam, put the Blue Book on my desk with your name, class number, and date all written on the cover. I d recommend coming to class a few minutes early, as I will have to inspect and approve of any Blue Book, before the exam is given to the student. After I have examined the Blue Book, I will give it back to that student, with the exam inserted into the Blue Book. NO EXAM RESPONSES WRITTEN IN ANYTHING OTHER THAN A BLUE BOOK THAT HAS BEEN APPROVED BY ME PRIOR TO BEING WRITTEN IN, WILL BE ACCEPTED. Even if you run out of space in the first Blue Book, and want to write in a second, that second Blue Book also has to be approved by me, before you write in it. I strongly suggest for the exams, that students bring pens to write with. Essays There will be two essays assigned during the semester. Both essays need to be 1300 words (roughly four pages) long. This number includes only the text of the essay itself, not the heading or the works cited page. A recommended division of the essay is a half-page introduction, a three-page body, and a half-page conclusion. Essays must be typed in 12-point type and double-spaced; decorative fonts and script fonts are not allowed. Essays are an excellent way to learn more about a topic that you are personally interested in. Additionally, essay writing develops your critical thinking skills you learn to discern what points and issues will support your main thesis, as well as (possibly) examine different explanations, and decide which is most valid. The essays are research essays assignments whereby you research your topic, and combine the information you have gleaned, with your own opinions and conclusions. As such, essays written essentially of your own opinions or beliefs will be severely downgraded. The idea here is to develop research skills, including not only reading, but also the assimilating different bits of information and viewpoints. If you simply write four pages on everything you already know about your topic, you don t develop those skills.
If you choose to write an essay on a topic covered in class, make sure that your essay goes well beyond what was covered in class; essays that simply repeat classroom lectures or readings will be downgraded to the degree that this happens. Format I do require both 4-page essays to be turned in digitally (via my email address on the first page), as an attachment (not in the body of the email itself). The document is only considered turned in if it is attached to the email; don t share the document by giving me a link to register with your social networking site. One of the reasons for insisting on a digital copy is for catching plagiarism. I will accept digital copies in one of the following formats: Word (.doc or.docx), Rich Text Format (.rtf), OpenOffice (.odt), or Word Perfect (.wpd). Essays not in one of those formats will be returned to the student, to be resubmitted in a proper format, and will be penalized. You will need to email me the essay by midnight of the day it is due. For the purposes of keeping everything organized, I will NOT accept a hard copy of the essay. The day it is emailed to me is the day it is turned in. When emailing the essay to me, in the subject line of the email, type the word essay along with the class number. For example, you would type essay 103 or essay 8A (without the italics, but with spaces before and after each word). This will help me make sure that I download, read, and grade all the essays from your class. Essays that have this in the subject line will receive one additional point for the grade. Essays that don t have these words in the subject heading will not be penalized, but will probably be graded and returned later than the rest of the essays. If you would like a reply from me confirming that I have received your email, please state this in the text of your email. As research essays, they need to reference in the text at least 3 books or articles, in MLA format. Place your full citations on their own page, at the end of your essay (in the same document) do not create a new document for your works cited. Essays that place the works cited on a separate document will be penalized. These three sources are not to include class handouts, notes, the textbook, or Wikipedia (or any of its derivative websites). If students are unaware of the MLA format, they can go to a page on my history site, and scroll down to a section that is entitled Classroom Handouts (paulrittman.com/history.html#handouts). You can visit two links listed there, both of which explain the MLA format. One is the Purdue OWL site, the other is maintained by Victor Valley College. Both of those pages have sample essays written in MLA format, so you can see exactly what you are being asked to do. The subject of the essay has to be either a person, or a specific event. When students write on broader topics, they typically lose focus and the essay wanders all over the place. The emphasis on specific people and events eliminates myths and legendary characters as subjects of your essays. The essays need to cover a person that lived, or a specific event that occurred, within the content area and time frame of this class: world history from the Agricultural Revolution to 1500. Keep in mind that even though we might go outside of these boundaries in class lectures and readings, you will still need to observe these parameters for your two essays. 4
If you are in any way unsure as to whether your topic fits these parameters, ask the instructor. Covering individuals or events that spilled over the boundaries of this class is acceptable, as long as your essay still stays within the time period of our class. 5 Essays written before this semester started, or submitted to other classes, are not acceptable. Essay Outline For the essay outline assignment you will turn in two forms. One is the outline form itself; the other, a document from the Writing Lab (that they will give you) signifying that you have gone there and consulted with them. Before going to the Lab, complete as much of the outline form as you can (including small paragraphs in the spaces allotted for them). Then, have them look it over and make suggestions. This visit to the Lab has to be with the first (not the second) essay. While you can feel free to use this outline form for your own benefit when you write the second essay, you will not need to turn in an outline form with that second essay, or take that essay to the writing center. The writing lab form has to be turned in at the same time as the essay outline form; whether the essay outline form is early or late, the writing lab form will not be given credit, if it is turned in after the essay outline form itself is turned in. Ten percent (one grade level) of the grade will be deducted if the two pages are not stapled together. Plagiarism Plagiarism and other forms of cheating are not permitted, and can result in receiving a 0 on the assignment, without the option to submit the assignment again, and additionally, any allowable penalty as explained in the student handbook or in accordance with VVC policy. Participation The participation grade will consist of some short readings (sometimes primary source), and a onepage response by the students that are done in class, referred to me as reflections. These are rather unstructured, and the idea here is simply to expose you to historical documents and ideas, and get you to think about them. At the end of the semester, I will average the grade for each reflection assignment, and that will constitute the participation portion of the final semester grade. The lowest reflection grade will be dropped and will not count against the grade. As a general rule, almost all of the reflections that are turned in will be given full credit. Quizzes I reserve the right to give short quizzes throughout the semester. These quizzes, if and when they are given, would be given at the beginning of class. Quizzes must be turned in when the instructor asks for them; they cannot be made up later on in that class period, nor on any other day. Any quizzes that are given out will be averaged in to the participation grade (as if they were reflections).
6 Late Work and Makeup Work Policy The only assignments that can be turned in late are the essay outline, and the two four-page essays. Late work has to be turned in no later than seven days after the original due date and will be given 80 percent credit. This 80 percent credit policy will be implemented regardless of the reason for the assignment being late. The only exceptions to this one-week extension are any assignments that fall due the last week of class no work can be turned later than the day of the final exam; nor can the essay outline be turned in later than the essay itself. The Writing Center form has to accompany the Essay Outline, and cannot be turned in later than the outline itself. Reflections (and quizzes) are based on class lectures and discussions and cannot be made up (or turned in before or after the assignment is done in class). A word to the wise: this isn t necessarily intentional at all, but I typically return late work very slowly. All assignments that are to be turned in in the class itself (hard copy), need to be turned in by the end of the class itself, or else they will be graded as being late. Extra Credit or Re-doing Assignments Apart from the special instructions for emailing essays and writing out your exams (which can combine to give you a 0.8 percent overall increase to the grade), there is no extra credit is offered; the only assignments that can be re-done are essays that are returned because of unacceptable subject choice, improper file format, or some other condition, at the discretion of the instructor. Sorry, but plagiarism or otherwise improper use of sources or other people s work doesn t constitute a reason for making up the assignment. Any such essays that are re-submitted may be assessed a late penalty, of anywhere from a full letter grade to a one-third credit penalty. Out of consideration for the rest of the class, if you do come in late, please walk in through the back door (facing the lake); and please don t walk up to the front of the class to sit down. Find a seat in the back. Classroom Behavior Being mean or inconsiderate (as defined by instructor) in class will make you liable to any penalty allowable under VVC policy and the Penal Code of the State of California, including but not limited to: academic penalties, imprisonment, fines, citations, and torture (up to but not including violations of the Eighth Amendment) to the fullest extent permitted by law.
Class Schedule 7 Assignments listed below are due the Thursday of the given week Feb 4-6 Feb 11-13 Feb 18-20 Feb 25-27 Mar 4-6 Mar 11-13 Mar 18-20 Mar 25-27 Apr 1-3 Apr 8-10 Apr 15-17 Apr 22-24 Class introduction; Agricultural Revolution Ch. 2: Mesopotamian Civilization Ch. 3: Egyptian Civilization Ch. 5: Ancient Indian Civilization Ch. 6: Ancient Chinese Civilization essay outline Ch. 4: Hebrew and early Greek Civilizations Ch. 7: Greek Civilization first essay Midterm review; midterm Easter vacation Ch. 8: Hellenistic Civilization Ch. 9: Roman civilization Roman civilization, cont. Apr 29-May 1 Ch. 10: Christianity and the Transformation of the Roman World May 6-8 May 13-15 May 20-22 May 27-29 Ch. 11: Asia and Africa in Transition, pp. 306-333; Ch. 16: Centuries of Turmoil and Grandeur in Asia, pp. 552-74 (medieval China) Ch. 12: Rome's Three Heirs: the Byzantine, Islamic, and early-medieval Western Worlds Ch. 13: High Middle Ages (1050-1300): Economic, Social, and Political Institutions second essay Final review, final exam